There's a Reason for Civil Libertarians to Vote for Obama

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Charlie Savage, my former colleague at the Boston Globe, now at the New York Times, is a national treasure. He has followed the steady hollowing-out of our national dedication to civil liberties through two presidencies now, and he's also planning on following it through the next one, too, whoever wins the upcoming. In fact, he's already starting.

In one of his first acts, President Obama issued an executive order restricting interrogators to a list of nonabusive tactics approved in the Army Field Manual. Even as he embraced a hawkish approach to other counterterrorism issues — like drone strikes, military commissions, indefinite detention and the Patriot Act - Mr. Obama has stuck to that strict no-torture policy. By contrast, Mr. Romney's advisers have privately urged him to "rescind and replace President Obama's executive order" and permit secret "enhanced interrogation techniques against high-value detainees that are safe, legal and effective in generating intelligence to save American lives," according to an internal Romney campaign memorandum. While the memo is a policy proposal drafted by Mr. Romney's advisers in September 2011 — not a final decision by him — its detailed analysis dovetails with his rare and limited public comments about interrogation. "We'll use enhanced interrogation techniques which go beyond those that are in the military handbook right now," he said at a news conference in Charleston, S.C., in December.

Remember, this is the guy who, four years ago, presumed to argue the efficacy of torture with John Freaking McCain.

Charlie's great gift is reporting well enough to give every voter a clear look at what the voter's is supporting at the polls.